52 Books by Shelbyville
For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in making books. When I was a wee little girl crafting bits and bobs in my bedroom, I would spend hours and hours making tiny little stapled books filled with nifty Crayola sketches and collaged with pictures cut out of magazines. Three decades later, not much has changed really...I'm still handcrafting little books and making collages from bits cut out of old books, allbeit with a lot more sophistication and intellect these days ;)
These days, I am inspired to seek mastery. I want to try my hand at each and every bookbinding style I can discover. I want to be creative and crafty with the myriad of materials I have all around me in my studio, and push the limits of my knowledge and skills with paper, card, leather, wood, fabric, bookcloth, and how I can combine these into new and exciting book projects.
And so, a handful of years ago, I set myself a personal challenge - to focus on making 52 different handmade books, with just three little guidance points to help direct my efforts:
1/ Each book project needs to challenge me in some way, whether it be an unfamiliar binding technique I wish to learn, or experimenting with unusual/found materials, or trying to create a book to a particular theme/inspiration.
2/ No real time limit (life as a mother of small children doesn't really offer the luxury of creative deadlines. and who needs that pressure anyway?), but making at least 2 or 3 books per month would be a commendable effort! ;)
3/ Try really hard to use up materials I already own. Try not to purchase any new materials. Secondhand/vintage/op-shop materials are ok to buy, but it's extra bonus points if such things are already in my possession and I can find a good use for them as a book project.
Simple and straightforward, but verrrrrrry inspiring.
And so the '52 Books by Shelbyville' project was born, a hashtag was created on Instagram, I cleared my desk, and I set to work making books. And as you’ll find in the blog posts that follow on from this one, there were many book projects that were thus created…
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #1 - Maryanne's plum leather journal
Binding technique: Cross-structure
Size: A5
Materials: Plum-coloured soft leather, chocolate-brown linen thread, assorted 'found' papers throughout
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #2 - Marrimekko cherry-red book
Binding technique: Cross-structure
Size: A6
Materials: Cherry-red leather, candy-pink linen thread, assorted 'found' papers throughout (Marrimekko catalogue pages, vintage wallpaper, linen fabric, hot-pink translucent paper, gold foil paper
Special features: Hand-embroidered 'building' motif on the front cover, inspired by one of the Marrimekko patterns; window cut from the spine to show the colourful sections within.
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #3 - Journals for Charlotte & Molly
Binding technique: Straight Longstitch
Size: slightly shorter than A5
(Charlotte's book)
Materials: Maroon-red leather, candy-pink linen thread, assorted white + scrapbooking papers throughout, elastic closure
Special feature: Leather cover lined inside with pasted scrapbooking papers
(Molly's book)
Materials: White leather, candy-pink linen thread, assorted white + scrapbooking papers throughout, magnetic closure
Special features: Wrap-around leather cover lined inside with pasted scrapbooking paper; window cut into spine to show coloured sections within; Letter M monogram handcut from white leather and glued to the front cover.
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #4 - Coptic notebook upcycled from Uppercase magazine pages
Binding technique: 2-needle Coptic binding
Size: A6
Materials: Dark chocolate-brown soft leather front cover, black cardboard back cover; cream linen thread, mostly white paper inside, with feature pages created from cropped sections of pages from an old Uppercase magazine
Special feature: Front leather cover is collaged with two offcut strips from leftover Uppercase pages
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #5 - Chunky leatherbound notebook for my teenage nephew
Binding: Staggered Longstitch
Size: A5
Materials: Chocolate-brown soft-leather wrap-around cover; cream linen thread; bookblock comprised of textured writing papers in shades of white/stone/pale blue.
Special feature: Magnetic snap closure (antique gold) reinforced with additional panels of leather, one wrapping around the front cover and the other to stiffen the front flap, and both helping to conceal the magnetic closure.
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #6 - Chunky wrap-around caramel-leather journal
Binding: Straight Longstitch
Size: A5
Materials: Caramel soft-leather wrap-around cover; cream linen thread; a bookblock mostly comprised of textured white paper, interspersed with found papers throughout, including old sketches, pianola paper, floral illustrations and other pages from vintage books, and a sheet of origami instructions.
Special feature: Magnetic closure concealed by a reappropriated pianola-roll pull tab.
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #7 - Cigar-box lid sketchbook/journal
Binding: Straight Longstitch
Size: 210mm x 140mm x 25mm
Materials: Front cover made from a found vintage wooden cigar-box lid (La Flor De Meritas, with original paper graphics on both sides of the lid) further embellished with a vintage paper doll outfit. Black leather spine continues around to form the back cover, adhered to 2mm black cardboard. Bookblock made entirely from BFK Rives art paper, cream-coloured, 175gsm, with deckle edges. Bound with 4-ply waxed linen thread (rust coloured).
Special features: Hand-torn + natural deckle edges to all the pages; simple 3-section Longstitch binding (chunky sections)
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BOOKBINDING PROJECT #8 - Chinese-inspired wrap-around chunky leather journal
Binding technique: Gathered Longstitch
Size: A6 (150mm x 110mm x 40mm)
Materials: Brown soft-leather wrap-around cover; ornate red Chinese 'knot button' closure; red linen thread (from a vintage spool, unwaxed); a bookblock comprised of textured white, cream, pale blue, and straw-yellow papers, interspersed with various found papers (silver/pale blue translucent papers, Chiyogami and rice papers); and featuring a variety of vintage Chinese postage stamps throughout.
Special features: 5cm-high window cut out of spine panel to reveal the ten coloured/patterned sections within.
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To be continued...